Stop work order issued on Young Avenue mansion after demolition complaints
Posted Sep 7, 2016 06:55:32 AM.
Last Updated Sep 7, 2016 06:57:16 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – A stop work order has been issued for a Young Avenue mansion after complaints about demolition work beginning while residents are still living inside.
The mansion known as ‘Fram House’ at 825 Young Avenue was sold to Dino Capital Ltd. in a sale that Global News reports closed at the end of August.
Resident Paul Fillmore has lived in a flat at the house for 10 years and told Global he came home this week to find demolition work had already begun, which caused a broken window in his rental unit.
“I found this work being done, siding being removed, scaffolding up around the windows,” Fillmore said. “You can see it.”
The city was made aware the work had begun, according to Fillmore, and Councillor Waye Mason tells Global the work has been ordered stopped by HRM.
“The owner of the building has been told to stop demolishing until there is a plan showing how what he is doing isn’t going to impact the quality of life or safety of the residents who are still in the house,” Mason said, adding that he believes the new owner was trying to avoid a heritage designation.
“I think what’s happening is the owner of the building wanted to damage the building enough that it wouldn’t qualify as a heritage building anymore.”
Council did debate adding a designation to the property during Regional Council Tuesday but it was defeated by a 10-6 vote, as Mason later noted on social media that because work was already well underway, it was considered a moot point.
